did anything stupid with me. But there was no reason to let him know that yet. Good rule of thumb: When your relationship is minutes old, don't freak out the new squeeze.
And anyway, Hickory and Dickory were sitting out this celebration. They were aware they made most of the humans nervous.
"I was actually thinking of your parents," Enzo said. "Although they seem to be missing, too." Enzo motioned with his head to where John and Jane had been standing a few minutes before; now neither of them were there. I saw Savitri leaving the common area as well, as if she suddenly had someplace to be.
"I wonder where they went," I said, mostly to myself.
"They're the colony leaders," Enzo said. "Maybe now they have to start working."
"Maybe," I said. It was unusual for either John or Jane to disappear without telling me where they were going; it was just a common courtesy. I fought back the urge to message them on my PDA.
"So, the observation lounge," Enzo said, getting himself back to the topic at hand. "You want to check it out?"
"It's on the crew deck," I said. "You think we might get in trouble?"
"Maybe," Enzo said. "But what can they do? Make us walk the plank? At worst they'll just tell us to get lost. And until then we'll have a heck of a view."
"All right," I said. "But if Magdy turns into all tentacles, I'm leaving. There are some things I don't need to see."
Enzo laughed. "Fair enough," he said, and I snuggled into him a little. This new boyfriend thing was turning out just fine.
We spent some more time celebrating with our friends and their families. Then, after things had settled down enough, we followed Magdy and Gretchen through the Magellan and toward the crew observation lounge. I thought sneaking into the crew area might be a problem; not only was it easy, but a crew member coming out of an entrance held it open for us.
"Security is not a huge issue here on the Magellan," Gretchen said, back to me and Enzo, then looked down at our clasped hands and smiled at me. She was evil, sure, but she was also happy for me.
The observation lounge was where it was advertised to be, but alas for Magdy's nefarious plans, it was not empty as promised; four Magellan crew members sat at a table, intent in a conversation. I glanced over to Magdy, who looked like he had just swallowed a fork. I found this rather amusing myself. Poor, poor Magdy. Frustration became him.
"Look," Enzo said, and still holding my hand, guided me to a huge observation window. Roanoke filled the view, gorgeously green, fully illuminated with her sun behind us, more breathtaking in person than she was on the monitors. Seeing something with your own eyes makes a difference.
It was the most beautiful thing I think I'd ever seen. Roanoke. Our world.
"Wrong place," I heard, barely, from the conversation at the table to the left of me.
I glanced over at the table. The four Magellan crew there were so engaged in their conversation and so closed in to each other that it looked like most of their bodies were actually on the table rather than in their seats. One of the crew was sitting with his back to me, but I could see the other three, two men and a woman. The expression on their faces was grim.
I have a habit of listening in to other people's conversations. It's not a bad habit unless you get caught. The way not to get caught is to make sure it looks like your attention is somewhere else. I dropped my hand from Enzo's and took a step toward the observation lounge window. This got me closer to the table while at the same time keeping Enzo from whispering sweet nothings in my ear. I kept myself visually intent on Roanoke.
"You don't just miss," one of the crew members was saying. "And the captain sure as hell doesn't. He could put the Magellan in orbit around a pebble if he wanted to."
The crew member with his back to me said something low, which I couldn't hear.
"That's crap," said the first crew member. "How many ships have actually gone missing in the last twenty years? In the last fifty? No one gets lost anymore."
"What are you thinking?"
I jumped, which made Enzo jump. "Sorry," he said, as I turned to give him an exasperated look. I put a finger to my